Furniture from waste paper

Anil Gujar and Sunil Juneja, who run Inkfloat, one of Pune’s leading digital wide format printing presses for the last 25 years, have begun manufacturing eco-friendly furniture.

Two Pune-based printers have begun creating innovative furniture from waste paper. Anil Gujar and Sunil Juneja, who run Inkfloat, one of Pune’s leading digital wide format printing presses for the last 25 years, have begun manufacturing eco-friendly furniture under the brand name of ‘Encore’ from tubular, multilayered paper cores.

This raw material is transported to Inkfloat in tubular ‘cores’ made from multilayered paper. According to Gujar, they used to dispose of the waste cores to scrap dealers. When one of the scrap merchants pointed out the highly, recyclable nature of the cores to Gujar and Juneja, did they start thinking of ideas.

One of the first that struck the duo was to manufacture the ubiquitous stool from the cores. When this stool stood the test of time, they decided to make tables, chairs and finally sofa sets.

“We are abusing our planet everyday through garbage, sewage or plastic. We decided to do our bit in saving the planet by recycling waste paper,” Gujar said.

They cleared space in an existing workshop and used their existing manpower to start manufacturing the eco-friendly furniture. They ordered for special glue to fix the joints, rejected all plastic, metal, steel, nails and even nylon strings. Making use of cotton strings to tie up joints and colourful handmade paper and jute cloth for aesthetic value, the furniture started rolling out, priced between Rs1,500 and Rs5,000.

The first set of furniture rolled out of their Erandwane workshop only a few months ago, but Inkfloat has been busy ever since. Several city-based interior designers have visited Inkfloat workshop to see the furniture. “We cater strictly to the customer’s needs and specifications and are capable of making furniture in all shapes and sizes,” Gujar said.

“We have waste disposal problems in our cities and Pune is no exception. How long will we keep putting pressure on our landfill sites? It is time to shift to a green way of life,” Gujar said.